rockville and just south of the district. now south of town you could still get a couple inches primarily on grassy surfaces. temperatures are still in the upper 30s. the bull's eye will be down towards charlottesville, 3 to 5 inches there and it is snowing in charlottesville and roanoke. the advisories are further south. our southern viewing area, la plata toward culpeper, fredericksburg, you are under a winter weather advisory for this little band of snow, but the temperatures are still above freezing. it's going to have to overcome a lot of obstacles to accumulate. consequently we're saying most of the acquisition laying even south of town will be on grassy sur -- accumulation even south of town will be on grassy surfaces. you see the magenta here, turning already into southern maryland. we'll come back and talk about temperatures tonight which can play a critical factor in your commute tomorrow. regardless some schools not taking any chances with that forecast, particularly those south of town.

our scott broom pick up our team coverage live in charles county. scott. >> reporter: hey, derek, on the dashboard camera of my mobile newsroom been motoring around today looking for snowflakes, so far haven't found any. i'm in la plata. that's u.s. 301 behind me. you just heard topper report maybe a little more snow down in charles county. it was a just in case kind of day anyway today. let me show you the pictures. charles county went ahead and dismissed school two hours early today. that's thomas stone high school up in waldorf. when they made the call, they were still under a winter storm warning at that time. of course, the national weather service has downgraded all that and the highway crews have been standing by all day to put salt on the road. they put some down but haven't really needed it. it's 39 degrees now and the rush hour traffic is getting by just fine. if you're in southern maryland and south of the metro area, as you just heard topper report, might be a little frozen stuff

tonight. so if you're in these areas, you'll have to check on schools tomorrow morning just in case. reporting live from the dashboard camera of my mobile newsroom, scott broom, wusa9. topper will be tracking the winter weather all night for you right here on wusa9 and, of course, on wusa9.com. 15 d.c. public schools are slated to close that had nothing to do with weather. it's part of the move school chancellor kaya henderson says will save money and provide better education for the kids, but not everyone is buying it. we turn to ko im now who is with protesters outside henderson's home. >> reporter: we haven't seen any protesters yet. they're supposed to come from around the corner, but the chancellor says the move would save $20 million just in programming in its first year. about half of that would go to the schools getting new students, but the protesters say her math doesn't add up and some parts of the district will

be disproportionately, if not unfairly, affected. we have the list of the schools spared from the original 20 proposed consolidations including francis stevens, garrison elementary, johnson elementary, malcomb x elementary and smothers. so some are relieved today. and may -- mayor vincent gray believes this will help speed up education reform. the protesters want a moratorium on the 15 schools that will be closed. the school system says they got feedback from thousands of people and the protesters have yet to be seen. back to you. >> you can imagine parents and kids are very passionate about saving their local schools. president obama's proposal to require all gun sales go through a background check has some widespread support. even the majority of nra

members support the idea, but how would background checks be implemented on private details? as peggy fox reports, they're already required in several states, but the seller and the buyer meet a licensed dealer who runs the tech. >> reporter: virginia tech shooting survivor collin goddard has gone undercover at gun shows across the country to show how easy it is to buy high powered firearms without a background check. >> this is exactly the problem we want to stop. >> we bought this gun last year at a dale city gun show with no background check. >> reporter: omar salaha whose sister was killed believes everybody needs bake ground check. >> if somebody fails a -- a background check. >> if somebody fails a background check, the police are supposed to investigate why there was a failed sale and last year in virginia alone it led to 850 arrests. >> reporter: but still virginia and 32 other states do not require background checks on private sales.

some gun stores like sharpshooters here in lorton will do a background check on a private sale. they will charge $40 the seller first has to transfer the gun to the store before the background check can go through. while some gun sellers might be afraid to support universal background checks, mike collins isn't. do you feel like you might be harassed if you say background checks are okay? >> i don't really care. if you ask my opinion, i don't think there's a problem with doing background checks. >> reporter: he is opposed to all of the other gun control recommendations proposed by the president. in lorton, peggy fox, wusa9. >> virginia lawmakers did away with the state's one handgun a month law. now you can buy as many as you want at a licensed dealer. for private sales the law could not be enforced. 40% of all gun sales nationwide are private sales which in most states do not require background checks. attempts to revive a bill that would mandate an invasive sort of ultrasound before a

woman could get an abortion in virginia failed in richmond today. a senate committee also voted down a measure designed to keep medicaid patients from getting abortions even if the doctor says a fetus has deformities making it unlikely to survive, but the senate decided to take up another bill designed to keep kids safe playing soccer. it effectively bans the sale of any soccer goal that isn't considered tip resistant. 10-year-old hayden elliott died in winchester in 2007 when the goal he was defending fell on top of him. his parents have been strongly supporting that bill. state lawmakers in maryland are working to take some of the bite out of a controversial court ruling on pitbulls. that ruling came last year from maryland's highest court and labeled pitbulls as inherently dangerous. it made it very hard for owners to defend themselves in court if their dog was to bite somebody. well, now state lawmakers are working on legislation that would give pitbull owners the same legal standing as the

owners of all other breeds. two levies in the district are being called unacceptable tonight. the u.s. army corps of engineers says hundreds of levies across the country are in danger of failing and in the nation's capital they include the anacostia naval air station levy and the 17th street levy. the corps is in the process of rebuilding the 17th street levy and hopes to have that project done soon. regardless of whether a flood or any other disaster hits, virginia wants to be sure you're ready. so the commonwealth is launching its own mobile app, the ready virginia app. it gives info on emergency planning and preparedness complete with maps of red cross shelters, hurricane evacuation routes and a family emergency plan you can customize. breaking news, guilty on all counts, that is the verdict in the case of d.c. cop richmond phillips. he was accused of shooting to death the mother of his child and leaving a young daughter to die inside a hot car.

just minutes ago phillips was found guilty of first degree murder in the deaths of both wanetta wright and 1-year-old jalen. prosecutors say phillips killed them both because he didn't want to pay child support. still to come tonight topper is tracking the storm that could bring some winter

right now your link to the latest news and weather is just a touch away at the itunes

store where you can download the wusa9 app for your mobile phone or tablet. this is free. it will give you a link to all the local news and information at your fingertips. you probably noticed our screen looks a bit different today. we made those changes in response to you. you told us you want a simple clean and clear look and we responded. first we reduced all this clutter. all the information now is organized at the bottom of your screen. the big line is called the information bar and it's designed to give you detailed information about the current story. sometimes we'll add an extra detail about that story and you'll see it appear just above the information bar. right underneath the information bar is the lineup. now it lists the next three stories in the newscast and it will move along throughout the show. it replaces that old rundown that used to be up there on the right side of your screen. the last line is the ticker. that features news, weather and other headlines and color is a key part of the look. different types of stories get

different colors just like those at usa today which is also owned by our parent company gannett. news stories are blue. weather is in yellow. sports is dark red. lifestyle is purple. tech is orange. money is green and breaking news is bright red. travel and traffic is aqua. opinion is in gray. coming your way on 9 news at 7:00 are we winning the battle against cancer? some impressive new numbers when it comes to taking on the big c. i'll see you at 7:00. >> coming up next taking a look at the promises for president obama's first inaugural speech and whether he delivered in

the latest technology will be key in helping us bring you comprehensive coverage of the presidential inauguration. of course, we'll have all the events here on wusa9, but we'll also be streaming it. so if you're out and about, even along the parade route, you can download the wusa9 app on your mobile phone or tablet. then if you head down for the festivities, show us what you take. upload your photos on www.wusa9.com, the facebook page, however you want.

>> you and i will follow the whole thing on twitter, the parade and everything going on. >> we'll be taking it all in and sharing it with you, but before we can look forward to this year's inauguration we want to look back to the last one. >> did president obama deliver on the promises made in his historic first inaugural address? our bruce leshan has a look. >> we, the people. >> reporter: in the depths of the economic crisis the president who campaigned on hope reached back to the founders' belief that we, the people, have individual rights, but that we are also in this together. >> the time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, that all our equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. >> reporter: the dean of the university of maryland school of public policy is struck by how the struggle between collective responsibility and individual rights is still at the heart of so many of our political arguments. >> how much each of us as individual americans ought to

be able to do whatever it is we want and how much collectively we have a responsibility to try to advance each other. >> we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises. >> here was a guy who promised to get beyond that nasty washington in fighting. it seems he didn't succeed there at all. >> we are now a more divisive nation than four years ago. we are split more deeply along fundamental divides. >> reporter: second inaugural speeches tend to be quickly forgotten with the compensation perhaps of fdr's. 1/3 of a nation ill housed, ill clad, ill nourished and, of course, lincoln's with malice toward none, with charity for all. speechwriters say that the challenge for president obama will be to be short, focused and inspirational. >> the question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a

decent wage, care they can afford and retirement that is dignified. >> that's what his presidency is all. about. >> reporter: the question for his second inaugural is whether he can unite america around that idea. >> if we refuse to let this journey end. >> reporter: bruce leshan, wusa9. with the president and congress still debating how to pay our debts and renew america, the stakes for this second feature are perhaps just as high as for his first. plenty of roads will be closed for the festivities. log onto www.wusa9.com to see your best way around town this weekend and on monday as well. we'll also have a list of items you can't take with you if you're going to monday's ceremony. >> it is a long list. you'll want to take a look at it before you head down there. >> i saw that list e-mailed. i was going to talk about it, but it's long. >> it's lengthy. all right. we have rain changing to snow south and east of town, also south and west of town but no

problems and hopefully personally i want to see a flake in northwest. that's all i look for. let's take a live look outside, our michael and son weather cam. high temperature 46 today, temps downtown still in the 40s, in fact, 41. winds are calm and will pick up in the next say six hours probably around midnight as the system passes and that will usher in colder air. temps are falling a little bit but are still above freezing everywhere, even where it's snowing and we mentioned yesterday that's what cuts down on accumulation is the vertical column of air in the atmosphere can support snow, but when it hits the ground, if it's 37, 38, it will melt. we're still looking at a trace to an inch for maybe rockville down toward northern charles county, maybe 1 to 2 inches in southern maryland into calvert county down towards fredericksburg. if you're traveling down i-95 in the next two or three hours, you could run into a little heavy band of snow, reduced visibility, and the same thing

for you folks going into southern maryland later tonight down 301 or 5. temperatures 38 in fairfax, 39 in reston and centreville and old town. college park is still 41, bowie 39, waldorf down to 38. the big picture, no shortage of moisture here. the problem is the upper winds are taking the system a little to the south and we're still lacking cold air which was never really a classic snowstorm. the cold air was lacking. we are looking at the cold air right on our doorstep here. the heaviest activity is south of town. we're seeing the radar returns go from red, yellow into the magenta and white. that's the rain going to sleet and eventually into snow. it's going to take a while and again the best chance for seeing snow is south of town. now we're seeing snow just north of richmond up toward fredericksburg, leonardtown mixing in a little bit, out toward fauquier county making with sleet and snow and even

across the bay in easton mixing with sleet. a wet commute home, okay, we can handle that, conversational snow if you're out late enough, accumulations primarily on grass and refreezing late tonight could be our biggest problem. 26 to 32 for lows, snow ending mainly south, clearing and colder. winds will pick up northwesterly at 10 to 20 and gusty. the next three days, cold tomorrow upper 30s, upper 40s on saturday, chilly, a pretty nice day, even sunday pretty nice, upper 30s to near 40, cold again. remember these 40s and upper 30s because here comes the arctic air. monday we're in the low 30s. tuesday we're in the 20s, back around freezing wednesday. next thursday we'll pop back in the 40s and flurries are possible monday night and also on tuesday. >> arctic cold, how welcoming. yeah. it's inaugural season. that's for sure. it doesn't matter how cold it is, the ravens are going

beyond their limits to get ready for this game. >> you have to when it comes to the new england patriots, no doubt. they're putting the finishing touches on thing at owings mills. the strategy for stopping the other team's star player, wait till you hear the plan to stop brady. >> and the nats [ male announcer ] now at your neighborhood subway: the big hot pastrami melt. we've perfected the pastrami sandwich -- filled with juicy pastrami, pickles, yellow mustard and melted cheese.

all piled-high on freshly baked bread. taste one at your local subway today! subway. eat fresh.

wusa9 9 news is sponsored in part by your local toyota dealers. now here's dave owens at the wusa9 cadillac sports desk. >> think of all the lousy quarterbacks who have graced the gridiron for your favorite team in the last 13 years. listen, i'm from detroit. joey harrington, ew, which makes what tom brady has done all the more remarkable. nearly 15 years he's been the gold standard. hate him if you want, he's a baller. the ravens want to put the kibosh on touchdown tommy, good luck with that. no touchdowns and no picks last week for tom. the ravens quarterback was asked for his attempt at stopping him. >> hire tanya harding. if they were getting off the bus, i'd spray water outside the bus, hope it freezes. hey, he is who he is. i went against him in practice for six years. he's as competitive person as i've ever been around.

>> this is the place to be sunday, ravens/patriots, wusa9, kickoff at 6:30, live coverage from foxboro and game on overtime at 11:30. we give you a previous of the afc championship saturday night at 7:00 at a special game on saturday. the nats' aggressive offseason continues, rafael soriano introduced today. soriano played in the pressure cooker of new york and manned led the hotspot pre -- handled the hotspot pretty well. gm mike rizzo on why this move makes sense. >> to acquire a talent such as rafael soriano who has done it so many times and been so consistent really gives us a huge boost. it gives us depth, talent at the end and it really shortens a game for the washington nationals. finally topper, our high school game of the week. 4,000 of you voted. we need more. robinson, chantilly and st.

johns taking on good council. log onto the website to vote. >> stay with wusa9 and cbs evening news next. >> at 7:00 derek has our area's only local newscast. we leave you with scenes around town this week as people get ready for the inauguration. it's an exciting time and take a look. >> the whole church wants to sit near there so they can shake hands with the president. >> for $100,000 you do get a ringside seat at the museum. >> the president, the vice president, the justices will be in this booth. what country am i?

>> don't mess it up. >> he